


When Pigs Fly.

by inspect0r_gadget



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Parents, Alternate Universe - Teachers, But only a little bit so don't worry, Gang Violence, M/M, Other, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, no beta we die like men
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-16
Updated: 2020-07-16
Packaged: 2021-03-05 01:47:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 10,332
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25296406
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/inspect0r_gadget/pseuds/inspect0r_gadget
Summary: This story focuses around Tsukishima, a single father of two. Well, sort of. After his mother died of a serious disease, Tsukishima was left his two younger twin brothers, Kaori and Hisoka. He's still figuring out the whole being-a-good-dad thing, while still getting good grades in college so he can hopefully open up a daycare of his own when he's older. When three mystery men come into his life– one being the kids' school teacher–, Tsukishima's emotions are thrown every which way. How will he be able to juggle everything while still being sane? Well, you're gonna have to read to find out.I'm sorry, I suck at summarys. Hopefully that works for now...?**CURRENTLY ON HIATUS**
Relationships: Akaashi Keiji/Bokuto Koutarou/Kuroo Tetsurou/Tsukishima Kei, Minor or Background Relationship(s), Terushima Yuuji/Yamaguchi Tadashi
Comments: 14
Kudos: 74





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Heya! I'm Sam, and this is my first ever post to Ao3. The title atm is a work in progress, so any suggestions for what the title should be is very much appreciated! I do take constructive criticism– if it's not said in a rude way. Any feedback on this would be really helpful, thank you for reading 😊
> 
> Oh, and Ao3 is being a butt and isn't letting me italicize anything but the first part, so if something needs to be in italics I'll just write it like ~this~. It'll be a little weird at first, but please just bare with me untill I figure this out lol.

"Hisoka, Kaori, dinner's ready, come get it before I feed it all to Nibs," Tsukishima shouts from the kitchen in his apartment. It all feels too surreal. 21 and with two children– seven-year-olds at that–, it really is a sight for people who don't know the whole story. Judging looks, contemplating life choices, and questions of how he manages both kids while still in college are a daily struggle for Tsukishima Kei. 

It wasn't always like this. No, when Tsukishima moved out of the house to go to college everything was normal. His mom was taking care of his two twin brothers on her own– their father long out of the picture–, and Tsukishima moved to Tokyo to study early children's education, in hopes of one day becoming a daycare worker. It was all perfect, all going according to plan… but then his mom got sick.

_It was a fatal disease, the doctor had said, and only a few survived it. They had all hoped that she would be one of the few, but life doesn't always go how you plan it too. Only five months after she was diagnosed she got hospitalized, the twins moving in with Akiteru temporarily, and only three months after that had they gotten the call that said she had passed._

_After the funeral, the twins were all set to move in with Akiteru permanently when all of a sudden he got a big promotion at work. Some overseas shit for his marine biology, and couldn't bring the twins._

_"Kei, I can't take them to America with me," he had said, "they've already been through so much and I just…"_

_He looked defeated, conflicted, sad, every sad emotion all at once. It wasn't a good look for him._

_"Look, if I find an affordable two-bedroom apartment before you leave, I'll take them in."_

_Kei was pulled into a tight hug that lasted for much longer than necessary, but neither of them really minded. If Kei had said no, the boys probably would have been put into foster care, and nobody in their right mind would let a child go through that if they could do something to prevent it._

_Not long after, the two Tsukishima boys were looking for apartments in the district of Tsukishima's college. They had found one that wasn't in the best part of town, but Kei was a broke college student and wasn't really looking to splurge on good neighborhoods._

_About two months after the twins and Kei moved into the apartment, Akiteru left for America. They had thought it was only going to be a year, but oh boy were they wrong._

_A year passed, and Akiteru got another offer at the same place to do a few more months of work there. Little did he know, they were in the market for a new Marine biologist and he was the perfect candidate._

_When Akiteru called Kei and told him and told him about the offer, he sounded bittersweet. On one hand, this job offer could open countless opportunities for the man. On the other, he would be burdening his younger brother with two five-year-olds while he's barely into his second year at college._

_Of course, Kei knew that if he told Akiteru he should do it that he would have to watch the two demon-spawns for probably the rest of his life– or, at least until they moved out–, but it didn't seem that bad anymore. Obviously juggling schoolwork, actual work, and taking care of five-year-olds was a struggle, but he was getting used to it. If he gave up now and sicked Hisoka and Kaori on Akiteru, then he would feel like a failure who couldn't do something as simple as take care of his little brothers. He didn't want that._

_So, obviously, he told his big brother that he should accept the job offer and that he would be fine with the boys. "You can always visit," Kei had assured him, "so it's not like you'll never see them again." Akiteru had cried happy tears and told Kei he was the best brother to ever exist. ___

__

__After that, things seemed to fall into place pretty nicely. The boys finally got accepted into the nearby elementary school and Kei finally started to get a hang of balancing his three jobs while also looking out for the boys and himself. Akiteru now works full time at that place in America– Tsukishima never bothered to learn its name– and visits every Halloween, Christmas, and birthday with his new Fiancée._ _

__Kei finally got his grades back up to A's and B's– they had dropped soon after the twins moved in for obvious reasons– and got a part-time job at a daycare downtown. Not exactly what he wants, but baby steps._ _

__Finally, after the sadness of his mother passing, the fear of raising the twins, and the seasonal depression, Kei was starting to feel… happy. It took almost three years, but he was finally starting to feel happy and he was proud, damnit. Proud he hadn't killed Hisoka and Kaori yet, proud he was still going strong in school, and proud he finally, ~finally~ got that job he has always wanted. Things were looking up for the Tsukishima household._ _

__"We're coming papa, just give us a second!" Kaori yelled from his and Hisoka's room. ~Probably drawing again...~_ _

__"Alright then, Nibs and I will just have allll this ramen to ourselves, won't we Nibs?" Kei taunts the tuxedo cat with a noodle before dropping it on the floor for the skinny cat to eat._ _

__"No! Ok papa, were coming!" Kaori yelled again, before Hisoka added, "please don't give Nibs our food."_ _

__Tsukishima chuckled as he put the ramen on two small plates for the seven-year-olds, and one big plate for himself. He even gave Nibs an itty plate and filled it with the leftover noodles, which probably wasn't healthy for cats, but Tsukishima has been trying to kill that cat for a year now and nothing has really worked, so he basically thinks the cat is indestructible._ _

__The twins run down the hall to the dining room– it's really just a tiny circle table in the corner of the kitchen–, each holding a piece of paper._ _

__"What are these, boys?" Tsukishima asks, filling up plastic cups with water and setting them down at the small table._ _

__"It's our family!" Kaori exclaims, Hisoka nodding along. "Look, that's papa, there's uncle Akiteru, uncle Tadashi, and that's Nibs, oo, and that's me, and Hisoka!"_ _

__Kei looks fondly at the pictures as Kaori excitedly explains what's happening, Hisoka adding in occasionally._ _

__The boys had taken to calling him papa after a situation at school. Some kids were making fun of Kaori and Hisoka for not having parents, or more specifically, a dad. After a long talk, they had all decided that since Kei was just like a dad, they would all call him dad. But, since Kei wasn't technically their actual dad, they wanted to call him papa because, _"even if you aren't our real dad, you are our real papa!"_ _ _

__

__It didn't really make sense at the time– but then again not a lot of things seven-year-olds say make much sense–, and hell, it still doesn't, but when they had said that, it made Tsukishima feel all sorts of happy. These were _his_ kids, and he wasn't going to abandon them like his own father did. He was gonna be the best fuckin papa these boys could ever ask for, whether they like it or not._ _

__"Papa?" Hisoka's questioning glance shook him out of his thoughts, "are you alright?"_ _

__Tsukishima gave him a small smile, "yes, baby," _he's always been good at reading people,_ "I'm alright. Just thinking about how amazing you both are."_ _

__Hisoka blushed and looked away, while Kaori didn't even hear his papa he was rambling so much._ _

__"Alright boys, as much as I love your drawings and hearing about the stories, we need to eat dinner and get to bed."_ _

__Both boys looked momentarily disappointed but quickly remembered that it's Sunday and if they finished eating they could get cake, so they quickly scrambled into their seats and started chowing down._ _

__"So boys, how's Kindergarten treating you?" Tsukishima asks, politely eating his noodles to counteract the two younger boys' extremely unmanned eating style._ _

__"Good," Hisoka said, before adding, "Kaori got a girlfriend."_ _

__"SHH, HISOKA YOU WEREN'T SUPPOSED TO SAY!"_ _

__"Girlfriend?" Tsukishima asked, intrigued._ _

__Kaori pinched the bridge of his nose, shook his head– _hey, don't I do that?_ – and turned toward Kei._ _

__"Papa, this doesn't _protein_ to old people," he said, smirking at himself for using a Big Wordtm._ _

__"Ok, first off it's pertain, and second I'm not old!" Tsukishima put his hand over his heart in offense, "I'm only 21!"_ _

__"Yes, you are, papa! You're older than  
Bokuto Sensei!"_ _

__"No I am not, Bokuto Sensei is 23!"_ _

__"Is not!"_ _

__"Is too,"_ _

__"Is _not!_ "_ _

__"Ahem," Hisoka fake coughed to get everyone's attention, "I thought we were talking about Kaori's girlfriend?"_ _

__A smirk fell onto Tsukishima's face, "Yes, thank you for reminding me. Three points to Hisoka."_ _

__"Hiso, you told me you wouldn't say anythinggg," Kaori whined, "and why does he get three points?"_ _

__"He gets three points because he reminded me what was important," Tsukishima replied, getting up from his seat at the table and walking over to the white board, putting three tally marks under Hisoka's name. "Now don't think that you're getting away from talking about this girlfriend, young man."_ _

__Kaori groned and picked Nibs up, petting him softly. "Papa, whyyyy?"_ _

__"You're not in trouble, I just want to know about her."_ _

__Kaori says quiet for a beat before Nibs jumps down and he speaks up, "....her name is Kana…"_ _

__"Hm?" Tsukishima cupped his ear to hear him better, "I didn't hear that, could you repeat it?"_ _

__"Her name is Kana," he says more clearly._ _

__Tsukishima smiles and looks at the small boy, "Is she cute?"_ _

__Kaori's face turned beat red and stormed off to his room and slammed the door. Meanwhile, back at the dinner table, Kei and Hisoka are laughing their butts off. It's always fun to tease Kaori, since they know he doesn't really take offense to it, but it's still important to apologise after._ _

__They finish their food and get dessert, a slice of strawberry shortcake Tsukishima made last week, and got an extra one for Kaori before walking to his and Hisoka's bedroom._ _

__He knocked twice. No response. He knocked two more times. Still nothing. Eventually he gave up on the knocking and gave Hisoka the extra strawberry shortcake so he could go inside and talk to the younger twin._ _

__Pushing the creaky door open, the older Tsukishima saw Kaori on the top bunk of the boys' bunkbed, his head tucked into his arms and his knees to his chest._ _

__Kei climbed the ladder as best he could, considering he was above six feet, and sat down next to Kaori. His legs were hanging off the side of the small bed and he put his arm around Kaori, who almost immediately snuggled into the hug._ _

__"Kao, wanna tell me what's up?" Tsukishima broke the silence after a few minutes of snuggling, Hisoka long gone at the dinner table eating away at his cake._ _

__"I just…" the younger Tsukishima started, pushing away slightly, "I feel sad that Hisoka didn't keep his promise…"_ _

__"Well, maybe you could go talk to him about it and ask why he didn't keep his promise?"_ _

__Kaori grunted and snuggled back into Tsukishima's arms. "Maybe we could snuggle for a little longer?"_ _

__As much as Kei would love to cuddle with Kaori, he knows that Hisoka is in the kitchen eating what is supposed to be the family dessert all by himself. He can't show favoritism, he wants both the boys to know he loves them equally. "No Kao, it's better to address the problem when it happens to come up with a solution faster," Tsukishima states, prying away from Kaori's grasp and starting down the ladder. "And besides, you know how big Hisoka's sweet-tooth is. If we don't get there fast, he's gonna eat both of our slices!"_ _

__"Not my cake!" Kaori yells, pushing Kei down the ladder. He– thankfully– lands on his feet, but only has a few seconds to recover before Kaori is jumping off the bunk bed into Kei's arms._ _

__He squirms out of his arms and books it down the hallway, yelling something about cake and sharing. _What a wild kid,_ Tsukishima thinks, _sometimes I wonder how we're related…__ _

__When Tsukishima finally makes it to the kitchen, the boys are sitting next to each other. Kaori rambling about school and Hisoka nodding along, happily eating his cake. Kei leaned on the doorframe and watched the two boys laugh and eat, and just enjoy each other. It was times like these when Tsukishima realized that he didn't know what he would do without these two little gremlins in his life, causing trouble and stress but eventually making it ok in the end. He was so lucky to have his two kids, and he wouldn't trade them for the world._ _

__~:~_ _

__After tucking the boys in and kissing them goodnight, Tsukishima grabbed his laptop and iPad and sat on the couch to finish his homework._ _

__His laptop had all the assignments and stuff on it, and the iPad had each and every one of his notes on it. His mother had gotten it for him in his third year of high school and he used it for basically everything, not just school notes. He took pictures of all his paychecks and stored them neatly in their own little folder, all the boys' doctor notes and medical information is in it's own folder, as well as reminders, his calendar, his grocery lists, and games for the boys. If you could think it, Tsukishima probably had a folder of it on his iPad._ _

__As he was finishing his last bit of homework when suddenly someone was knocking at his door. _It's 11:40, who the hell would be knocking at my door this late?__ _

__Cautiously, he picked up the baseball bat he kept by his door– it's a bad neighborhood and he has two kids, he has to protect them somehow– and looked through the peephole to see… Kaori and Hisoka's teacher?_ _

__"Bokuto Sensei, what a… surprise?"_ _

__Bokuto looked as pale as a ghost, though still somewhat dashing. His hair was as stupid looking as ever, all gelled up in two points that looked an awfully lot like an owl. He was wearing a black 'We Don't Need No Education' t-shirt– not exactly something you want to see the teacher of your kids wearing– that was a little small at the top because of how brod his shoulders are. He was wearing fitted blue jeans that hugged his frame a little too well to be legal._ _

__"Tsukishima-san, hi," he squeaked when some random guy came up behind him and smacked his back._ _

__"Now now Bo, don't be shy," said the man. Tsukishima reflexively tightened his grip on the bat. Bokuto wasn't a threat at first, Tsukishima had seen the man countless times at the school and he seemed like he couldn't hurt a fly, but when the other man joined him Tsukishima realized just how powerless against them he was. He wouldn't stand a chance if he was attacked, and he wouldn't be able to protect the boys. He couldn't let that happen._ _

__"Kuroo, man, I can't do this to him," Bokuto said in a hushed tone, making Tsukishima all the more paranoid, "He's a parent of a couple of my students."_ _

__"This youngin, a parent? Yeah right Bo, you're just too _chicken_."_ _

__"Seriously dude-"_ _

__"I hate to interrupt this… whatever this is," Tsukishima starts, opening the door slightly, "but I would like to know what is going on before I shut the door on you and look for other elementary schools to send my kids too."_ _

__It's an empty threat and Tsukishima knows it, but hey, they don't and that's all that matters._ _

__"My good buddy Bokuto here lost a bet to me and our dear friend Akaashi," the other man– Kuroo– moved his hand from Bokuto's back to his shoulder, "and his punishment is to ask someone from this shady apartment complex out on a date!"_ _

__Bokuto looked like he wanted to just die right then and there, and honestly, he did. Why, oh why did he have to knock on a parent of two of his students' door? God must hate him._ _

__"Papa?" They hear a small voice from inside the apartment and Tsukishima immediately turns to face the small voice._ _

__"Hisoka, what are you doing out of bed?" He asks, picking the small child up and placing the bat down, "it's very late and you have school in the morning."_ _

__"I heard yourses and Bokuto Sensei's voices and wanted to see if he was here… is Bokuto Sensei here?"_ _

__Kuroo and Bokuto look at Tsukishima while he talks to the small child in awe, watching as Tsukishima walks him over to the door to say hi to Bokuto Sensei before he goes back to bed._ _

__"Hi Bokuto Sensei," he says, waving his small hand at the teacher._ _

__"Hey little man," Bokuto waves back and lowers his voice to preserve the sleepy in him._ _

__"What are you doing here?" Hisoka rubs his eye and snuggles into Tsukishima, and Bokuto and Kuroo think they might spontaneously combust from how absolutely adorable that was._ _

__"I'm just talkin' to your dad, bud."_ _

__"He's not my dad," Hisoka says like it's the most obvious thing in the world, "he's my Papa."_ _

__Tsukishima chuckles and bumps Hisoka up higher on his hip, "Ok my little sweet-tooth, I think that's enough questions for tonight. Let's go back to sleep."_ _

__Hisoka murmured an acknowledgement and pushed his tiny head into Tsukishima's shoulder. The eldest Tsukishima told them to stay at the door and that it would only take a minute._ _

__They were both silent for a moment before Bokuto broke the silence._ _

__"I told you he was one of the parents."_ _

__Kuroo scoffed and bumped his friend with his shoulder. How was he supposed to know? Bokuto said he would do the dare if he lost the bet, and he did, so parent or not he has to follow through._ _

__"You still have to ask," Kuroo said, smirking._ _

__Bokuto groaned in response and put his head in his hands. Why does the world hate him? What did he ever do to deserve this?_ _

__Tsukishima came back a few minutes later and picked back up his bat, looking Bokuto in the eyes._ _

__"Ok, what was it you wanted to ask? I have to get the boys up in seven hours and I would like to sleep a little before then."_ _

__"Bokuto here wanted to ask you out on a date~" Kuroo singsonged as he pushed his friend forward slightly._ _

__Tsukishima crossed his arms and shifted his weight from one foot to the other, looking unimpressed._ _

__"Not you specifically," Bokuto starts, feeling suddenly uncomfortable under the tall man's glare, "just someone in this apartment complex."_ _

__They all stay quiet for a moment, and Bokuto wonders if he'll ever see Tsukishima at the kindergarten after this whole ordeal. The tall man sighs, rubbing his face._ _

__"...a date."_ _

__"Yep!" Kuroo slapped his friends back one more time, and Tsukishima thinks it might leave a mark._ _

__"...with a random person from my shady apartment complex?"_ _

__"Mhm!" Kuroo gave Tsukishima a big smile, wrapping his arm around Bokuto's shoulders once again._ _

__"Do you guys know how stupid that is?"_ _

__Both boys stare in shock at Tsukishima, waiting for him to explain what he meant or at least for him to explain why he had to say it like _that_._ _

__"I've lived in this apartment complex for almost two years now and let me be the first to tell you that I wouldn't trust majority of the people who live here with a pen, let alone a date. Honestly, you're lucky you knocked on my door and not crazy Jim down the hall, he would've beaten you guys to a pulp."_ _

__Kuroo huffed out at laugh and took his arm off Bokuto, his full attention on Kei. "That's part of the fun, sweet cheeks," he started, a condescending hint to his tone, "if you don't think you can handle going on a date with Bo here, no worries. We can go ask someone else if you're too chicken to go."_ _

__Kei knew what he was doing, and he wasn't going to fall for it. Nope, definitely not falling for it. Not at all._ _

__"You think I'm too chicken?" _God damnit Kei,_ "I'll show you chicken, rooster head."_ _

__Tsukishima turned to Bokuto and looked him dead in the eye. "Tomorrow, meet me at Nekomata's for lunch. Around 12 good for you?"_ _

__Bokuto blinked a few times before responding, "Yeah.. yeah that's good for me." Is this really happening?_ _

__"Great. Now no offense, but please leave."_ _

__Kei slammed the door in their faces and immediately set off to his room, throwing his face onto his pillow and screaming into it. This is really happening… he thought to himself, slamming his face into his pillow a few more times before getting up to change into pajamas. Of course, right when he was starting to finally be happy, life decides to throw another curve ball at him._ _

__Why couldn't it have just stayed happy for a while… Kei thinks as he drifts off to sleep, mildly hoping he would die in his sleep so he wouldn't have to go to his date tomorrow._ _

___Let's just hope it all goes well…__ _


	2. Chapter Two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, the second chapter is officially out! In the comments of my last chapter someone pointed out that I named one of the kids Hisoka like on hxh 😂. Totally an accident, but I think it's a pretty funny coincidence. Anyway, on with the story!
> 
> Edit: um, guys why did nobody tell me that I made them say the pledge of allegiance while they're in Japan?? Jfc, I should really get a beta huh? Well, I fixed it now, but that's thanks to _absolutely nobody._ Still, I hope you enjoy this chapter and stick around for the next (~￣³￣)~

Tsukishima's alarm goes off at 6:30, waking the tall man with a start. Not a good one, but a start indeed. He throws himself off his warm, welcoming bed and goes to the kitchen to make the boys cereal and check their homework before they get up for the day.

First he goes to Hisoka's bag and takes out the 'Friday Folder' to check what he needs to sign and make sure he finished his homework. He has, as always, so he signs the little paper saying he checked it and went over to Kaori's bag.

Once he opens Kaori's Friday Folder, a flyer falls out of it. Confused, Tsukishima picks up the flyer and reads it.

_**'LGBTQ+ Youth need a place to feel safe, but is home the best place to come out?'** _

Tukishima turns his head slightly at the title in confusion, but continues reading.

_'In your sixth grade class,'– sixth grade??– 'statistically up to three-four of you are questioning your sexuality and/or gender identity. If you are one of these people, please come to the guidance counselor and we can discuss options for you and your family. We–'_

"Papa!" Kaori rips the flyer out of his hands and hides it behind his back, "why are you reading my stuff??"

"Kao, why do you have this flyer?"

Tsukishima knows that the boys' reading comprehension is through the roof– he reads them chapter books to fall asleep after all–, so it isn't really shocking that Kaori is able to at least somewhat read the article. What _is_ shocking is that he has an article about lgbtq+ youth.

Tsukishima has always been local about the fact that he was gay to the boys, he takes them to at least two pride parades every pride month and equality rallys often. He often tells the boys that he would love them no matter who they liked, so why would Kaori hide this from him?

"Because… because…" Kaori fumbles over his words as he backs up, slightly hyperventilating.

"Kaori, what's going on?"

"Papa, I…"

"Kaori, breath," Tsukishima instructs, placing his hand in the small of the boys back, "take a deep breath in, and let it out."

Kaori takes in a shaky breath and drops the flyer. Tsukishima rubs tiny circles into the boys back, trying to get him to calm down.

After a minute or two of this, Kaori seems to have calmed down. He bends over and picks back up the flyer, setting it on the counter before sitting down on the couch.

Tsukishima walks cautiously over to him, not wanting to set off another mini panic attack, "Kao, do you have something you want to talk about with me?"

Kaori shakes his head, breath still a little shaky, before elaborating, "you– you say that– that if we have to tell you something, then it should be on our– on our own terms."

Tsukishima nods, understanding but a bit disappointed. _I do say that, don't I?_

"Alright, well, you have someone to talk to about this with, right?"

Kaori nods, "the lady with the dog is helping me."

Mrs. Martin, by far Tsukishima's favorite teacher at that school. She takes her service dog to school to show kids how a service dog works, and she is a known activist of human rights. Tsukishima and her actually saw each other at the most recent rally. They talked for a bit, and found out they actually had a lot more in common than they originally thought. Now they talk practically every time Tsukishima picks up the kids.

Tsukishima chuckles, "well, that's good. You can talk to me when you're ready, ok bud?"

Kaori nods and smiles up at the older Tsukishima before giving him a big squeeze. 

_Well, he'll tell me when he's ready,_ Tsukishima thinks, squeezing him back, _I can't rush these things, and he's only seven, he's still figuring it out. No matter what, I'll still love him._

Hisoka woke up not long after that, and they all are breakfast and talked about the fun things they were going to do in school that day. 

"And we have P.E today too, right Hisoka??"

"Yep," the younger boy ate his cereal, not really engaging in much conversation because of the early hour– he and Kei were never really morning people–, "but today is a double day, so we get P.E and Music."

"Omh yellahh!" Kaori yells with a mouthful of cereal, come milk coming out of his mouth.

"Kao, your spilling," Tsukishima says, grabbing a napkin from the center of the table and wiping his face and pajamas, "remember, chew, swallow, then speak."

The boys were finished eating breakfast at 7:15, giving them around 30 minutes to get out the door, and the remaining 15 minutes to get their butts to school. They boys' school wasn't in their district– because Tsukishima doesn't trust any of the teachers here to properly teach his kids–, so they opted for a better school about 15 minutes away if you take a shortcut and speed a bit.

Tsukishima picked their clothes out, because gods know what they would choose if he let them, and left them on their respective beds so they could change. 

While they were changing, Tsukishima double checked to make sure his _own_ homework was finished and ready to go. Being a single father of two kids in your third year of college, you learn a thing or two about how to assure you get good grades while still being a good dad. At least, he _thinks_ he's a good dad. _Oh gods, what if I'm a bad dad_

 _No, bad Kei, you can't be thinking like that,_ he scolds himself, _you're doing that best you can and that's all you can do, so stop worrying about it._

The boys came running out in their respective clothes– well, actually Hisoka was wearing Kaori's shirt and vise versa, but whatever–, and looked eager to get to school. Tsukishima pushed them over to the bathroom, telling them to brush their teeth and then they would head out.

Tsukishima grabbed his own school bag, along with the boys', and fed Nibs before grabbing his keys and his pocket knife.

Listen ok, he can't tell you how many times he's been almost-robbed since he moved into this apartment. It's bad enough being a college student and being robbed, but he also has kids he needs to feed. So yeah, not taking any chances.

"Boys, if you don't hurry up, I'm leaving without you!" Tsukishima threatens, jiggling the door handle slightly. Kaori screams and runs to the door, mouth still full of toothpaste.

"You dinglehopper, _spit out_ the toothpaste first!"

He giggles and runs back to spit out the toothpaste. Tsukishima hears a faint gurgling sound before tiny little footsteps run back into the living room.

"Ok, you know the drill boys," Tsukishima starts, crossing his arms, "it's checklist time.

"Do you have your pencils?"

"Yes," both boys reply, holding up a pencil in each hand.

"What about your shoes?"

"Mhm," Hisoka replies, before Kaori drops to the floor to quickly put his on.

"Backpacks?"

"Yep."

"Lunches?"

" _You_ put them in our backpacks, Papa," Hisoka said, looking unimpressed.

"I know," Tsukishima defends, "I just wanted to be sure."

"Can we go now?" Kaori suddenly asks, rocking back and forth on his feet, "we're too old for the checklist."

"Oh?" Tsukishima asks, raising an eyebrow, "alright, but don't cry to me when you realize you've forgotten something."

"As if Papa, I remember _everything_."

"Yeah, because of the checklist."

" _Ahem_ ," Hisoka brings everyone's attention to him, "it's 7:50."

" _shit_ ," Tsukishima hisses, opening the door, "don't repeat that word boys, but we have to go. Stay close, and remember the rules."

The boys are practically glued to his side the entire walk to the car, which is a good thing– can't trust anyone in this neighborhood. 

"You boys can do your own seatbelts, right?" He asks, throwing his bag into the car.

"I can help Kao's with his," Hisoka says, sitting in his booster and pulling his seatbelt over himself.

"I can do it myself!" Kaori retaliates as Tsukishima starts the car.

"Listen, I don't care who does it, just get it done!"

Hisoka ends up doing for Kaori– after some mild complaining and bribery–, and Tsukishima gets to the school with two minutes to spare. He internally praises himself and promises ice cream after lunch–

 _Oh shit, lunch,_ Tsukishima remembers. _I have a date…_

 _No time to think about this now, get a move on!~_ Tsukishima thinks, getting the boys out of their seats and pulling them along.

He gets to the sign-in sheet at 7:59, one minute 'till school starts, and signs them in before speed-walking to their classroom– they already got in trouble for running.

They open the door just as the bell goes off, causing a sigh of relief to come from the Tsukishimas. 

" _Thank the gods,_ " Tsukishima mutters to himself.

"Hey hey hey!" He hears a booming voice from across the room and internally groans, "you guys made it!"

The boys scurry off to their cubbies to put their bags away and go off to see their friends, not even giving Tsukishima a kiss goodbye.

"Yeah, we got a little sidetracked this morning.." Tsukishima mutters, looking down slightly at Bokuto.

"I totally thought I freaked you out last night," Bokuto says, "but I'm really glad you're here!"

"Yeah, me too–"

"Oh! About our date later–"

"Good morning boys and girls, today is Monday, September 14, 2020…" Mrs. Martin's voice booms over the loud classroom, making them all quiet for the pledge of allegiance. Bokuto stops what he's saying to look over at the flag in the corner of the room, and Tsukishima follows, both putting their hands over their heart.

" _I haven't done this since highschool,_ " Tsukishima whispers, mostly to himself.

" _Yeah, it's definitely strange the first few times you have to do it again,_ " Bokuto whispers back, " _but you get used to the cultish-ness of it._ "

Tsukishima giggled at the joke, and benoist to him, Bokuto turned to look at him when he started laughing.

Bokuto was in awe that something that intimidating could sound _that adorable_. After what seemed like an infinity of staring, the pledge started and they all said it in sync.

" _I pledge allegiance, to the flag,  
Of the United Nations of Japan.  
And to the republic for which it stands,  
This Nation,  
Under our Gods,  
Seen and heard,  
With safety and love for all._"

All the kids sit back down, seemingly at once, and get back to whatever morning work they had to do.

Tsukishima looks at the clock. The time says 8:10, 20 minutes before his first shift at the gas station starts.

"I have to get to work, I'll see you at 12 Bokuto," Tsukishima says, making sure everything's still in his bag.

"Oh, uh, yeah! Ok! See you at 12 Tsukishima!"

"Boys, I'm leaving, come give me some luck!" Tsukishima says somewhat loudly, but not loud enough to alert the other kids. Kaori and Hisoka run over to him, giving him a big hug and two kisses on his cheeks.

"Have a nice day, and remember to be nice to your peers."

"Bye Papa!" Kaori runs back to his friends shouting, "have fun at adult school!"

"Bye Papa," Hisoka says politely, giving Kei one last big squeeze, "see you after school."

Tsukishima gets back up from his crouching stance and walks out the door, sparing a final glance to Bokuto.

Now, Tsukishima isn't self absorbed in the slightest. He never thinks anyone is looking at him because of the outfit he's wearing, and he never tries to get unwanted attention. But you would have to be a fool to not notice that Bokuto was staring at Tsukishima. Maybe it was the whole date situation, or maybe he's always done that and Tsukishima never noticed, but Kei wasn't really… upset that he was staring at him. He kind of felt pride, for what reason he wasn't sure, but he didn't dwell on it for long. 

Once the tall man sat in his beat up old car, he sighed, hitting his head on the steering wheel. _Oh my gods, I have a date later,_ he thinks, _my first real date since…_

No, he wouldn't think about that now. Wouldn't think about _him_. The only reason he accepted to this stupid date in the first place was so Bokuto and his little friend wouldn't get beaten up by the bike gang on the fourth floor– who, coincidentally, watch the boys when Tadashi isn't available, but they don't need to know that. It's just a one time thing, after this date, he won't have to think about it ever again... Right?

_Let's just hope it'll be over before we know it…_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hmm, what is with Kaori? What is he hiding from Tsuki? Muahahahaha, you will never know! Well, you will eventually, but right now only I know. 
> 
> Sorry for the short chapter! I promise I'm working on the next chapter as you read, and it'll be out by next week. 
> 
> I _think_ I fixed the italics thing, but if I didn't please let me know and I'll try again lol hope you enjoyed the story!
> 
> Edit: Hahahaha, did you think when I said "I fixed it now," I meant took it out? Ha, nope. I just made Japan have a national anthem. Suck on that. But honestly, it would have taken so much more time to re-write the whole interaction with them, so I just swapped the national anthem out with a made-up one. This won't happen in future chapters lmao


	3. Not a Chapter

Hey guys! It's Sam, and I wanted to let y'all know what's going on with this story atm. I hit a really big writers block recently and have been struggling to write at all, so that's the reason I didn't update last Wednesday. 

This story is going on a brief hiatus, but only brief I promise! Right now I only have my phone to post updates on, so that's also put a damper on my plans juuust a tad, but I'm going to get my school computer in about 1-2 weeks. So, I'm hoping when I get it I'll be able to post regularly again. 

Don't worry, I do plan on finishing this story all the way through, and I'm not even close to being done. I have so many plans and things that need so much more time, but I think I really need this break rn. 

I hope you all understand, and I promise that I'll get back on this story asap! Right when I get my school computer, I'll be writing up a storm, so don't you worry. And I'm planing on making the next chapter way longer than the last two, so there's something to look forward to as well!

I also thought this would be a good opportunity to clear some things up about this story that I thought were confusing and you might've too.

First, the twins are seven, Tsukishima is 21, Bokuto is 23, Kuroo is 23, and Akaashi is 22. 

Second, this hasn't really been clarified in the story but I wanted to mention it anyway just for future reference. Tsukishima wants to be a Daycare Worker and own his own one day. Akaashi is an aspiring writer who works at a bakery. Bokuto is normally a P.E teacher and Volyball coach, but after one of the teachers got hospitalized he assumed their role for them. Kuroo is a beginner model working for the Nekoma Agency, the one his grandpa runs.

Third, this story takes place in Japan but I'm not quite sure how school in Japan works, so if you see some similarities to American school they're not just coincidences. I should probably look up how school in Japan works, but I probably won't. Sorry to disappoint!

Lastly, I want this story to be _long_. Like, I already have a sequel planned out long, so don't think I'm abandoning this story anytime soon. This is just a short hiatus to get my life and my schedule back on track.

I hope you all have a good day, and I'll be back soon!


	4. Chapter 3 (finally!)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tsuki meets Akaashi, dates happen, and someone gets hurt.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Notes on why I've been MIA are at the end of the chapter, but for now, enjoy 😊

After work, Tsukishima goes to his first of two lectures for the day; English. It was a necessary class to take if he wanted to get an education degree, because recently Japan has been getting a lot of foreign exchange students, but Jesus if it wasn't _exhausting_. Why does he have to take a class for a language he already spoke, anyway? It's bullshit, if you ask him.

But whatever. He put it off his first two years at college and the plan for his fourth year is to have as little to do as possible, so he'll just have to suck it up for now. _It is only for one semester, after all_.

Tsukishima entered the large lecture hall just a few minutes before the lecture began. Kei sits down next to some random dude in the middle of the large room.

Quickly, he takes out his tablet and paper assignments he was assigned last week. The class starts and Tsukishima gets to work on his tablet, drawing all his notes in a fun but neat way– Hisoka liked looking over the notes to see all the "cute drawings" and "fancy letters," as he puts it. As he's making his bullet points, he can feel the other man looking over his shoulder at his notes.

"If you want to copy, I don't care, but at least try to make it look like you're doing it discreetly," Tsukishima whispers, side-eyeing the man.

At his calling out, the man straightens his back and looks straight ahead at the teacher, his notebook empty.

Tsukishima sighed and lightly pushed his tablet over to the man, tilting it ever-so-slightly so he could see it better. 

At this obvious attempt of trying to share his notes, the shorter man perks up and grabs his notebook to start jotting down some key words. He's probably trying to hurry up, as to not take up Tsukishima's time, but in turn it's making his notes all sloppy.

Tsukishima sighs, "listen, give me your phone number and I'll text you my note screenshots, ok?"

At this, the man looks at Tsukishima once again. "Really?"

He rolls his eyes, "yes really, now give me my tablet back I need to finish writing the notes."

The man swiftly nods and pushes the tablet back over to Kei lightly, and he resumes taking the notes he missed without giving the other man as much as a second glance.

After that, things went pretty smooth sailing. Well, until the last ten minutes, at least.

"Alright class, for your next assignment you will be working in groups of two. So, I will be explaining what the project is when you find your partner. You have five minutes, go."

Almost simultaneously, the two boys lock eyes. They make a silent agreement that they will be partners and go back to what they were doing previously.

Five minutes pass, and everyone has a partner. The teacher explains the group project, saying that the pairs have to make a presentation on the book "Where the Red Fern Grows," a simple but good book that Tsukishima's father made him read when he was 13. It's normally a book kids in America read in middle school, but since they're in Japan nobody here got to read it. Since this class is advanced, they have to read the original English version, but they have the Japanese audiobook just in case.

And with that, the class comes to an end. Tsukishima gets up and starts to walk to the door before someone pulls on his arm to make him stop.

"Uh, can I have your phone number?"

 _Oh yeah, forgot,_ Tsukishima thinks, pulling out his phone. "Guess this works in our favor, huh? I'll text you a time I'm able to meet up with you…"

"Akaashi," The man said, "Akaashi Keiji."

"Tsukishima Kei."

The man– Akaashi– smiled and stuck out his hand. "Pleasure to work with you, Tsukishima."

Smirking, Tsukishima takes the hand and gives it a firm shake. "Pleasure's all mine."

Akaashi puts his number in the phone, Tsukishima gives it a quick text to confirm it, and finally leaves the class. He and Akaashi go different directions; Tsukishima going towards the parking lot to get his car and Akaashi going to his next class, presumably.

Once Tsukishima gets back to his car, he decides to call his best friend to talk about what had happened the previous night. He needed to get his thoughts out, and this was really the only way he knew how.

Tapping Tadashi's contact, he pressed call.

_Ring._

_Ring._

_Ring._

" _Hello?_ "

"Hey Tadashi," Tsukishima starts, "you're not gonna believe this…"

" _Oh, this is gonna be good._ "

Kei proceeds to tell his best friend the entirety of what happened the previous night, purposefully leaving out the whole thing with Kaori this morning. They could talk about that another time, right now was date advice.

" _Tsuki, are you sure you want to start dating again?_ " Yamaguchi asks, " _I mean, you were pretty messed up after… well, you know._ "

"Yes, I know how messed up I was after him, but this isn't _dating,_ " Tsukishima clarifies, "all I did was save their asses from Ezume and his gang."

"~Don't they watch the kids when I can't?~"

"Well Ine and Isao do, but you know what that's besides the point," Kei messes with his seat settings for what seems like the hundredth time, before finally getting it back to the way he likes it, "the point is, I need to know what to do because I don't want to make a fool of myself."

" _If you're really that worried about looking like an idiot, just ghost the dude,_ " Yamaguchi slurps his soda from the other end, " _I'm sure he would understand._ "

"Were you even listening?" Tsukishima asks, starting his car to start driving to Nekomatas, "this dude is my kids' _teacher_. If I ghost him today, I'll have to find a different school that takes out of district kids, and you know how hard it was to find the one we did in the first place."

" _Touché._ "

"Yams, I don't know what to do."

" _Well, I haven't been on a first date in a while,_ " he said, taking another drink of his soda, " _but I remember on mine and Terushima's first date I was a wreck. And, look at that, he still loved me and took me on more dates. Now look at us, together for almost three years._ "

"Yes yes, I didn't need you to give me a re-cap of your _perfect_ love story," Tsukishima says, the eyeroll somehow visible through the phone, "and anyway, I don't _want_ a long-lasting relationship like yours and Terushima's. All I want is to survive this date without making it awkward for the rest of the school year."

" _Tsuki, you never know! This guy could really be the one._ "

"Yeah, that'll happen when pigs fly."

" _Tsuki, just give him a chance._ " The rattling of a door handle can be heard from the background, as well as a faint 'I'm home!'

" _Oh, that's Teru. Just think about what I said, ok Tsuki?_ "

Tsukishima sighs, "fine, I'll _think_ about it. Now go to your loverman, I made it to Nekomata's."

" _Alright, have fun!_ "

"Shut up, Yamaguchi."

" _Sorry, Tsuki!_ "

And with that, they hung up, Tsukishima pulling into the parking lot of the diner. It was only 11:50, so he had ten minutes left to kill, but he decided it wouldn't hurt to be a little early. So, he got out of the car and walked into the familiar place.

Right when he entered, a wave of nostalgia hit him like a hurricane. All the memories, all the feelings, all the _love,_ it was a tad overwhelming. But, like most things, Tsukishima decided to push these emotions deep down and think about them another time. Right now, he had a date to get over with and another lecture starting at 1:30.

Kei found the loud man in seconds, his bi-colored hair sticking out compared to all the browns and blacks of the café patrons. 

“Tsuki!” He shouts, alerting the other customers, “Over here! I got us a tab–”

“Shhhh!” Kei rushes over and puts his hand over the loud man’s mouth. “Not so loud, we’re in a public place.”

He pushed the hand away and chuckled, “Right, sorry.”

Tsukishima sighed and sat down across from the man, placing his bag to the side of him.

They both are silent for a few minutes before Bokuto speaks up again.

“So, uh, Tsuki, what do you do for work?” He asks, putting his head in his hand, “I remember you saying you were gonna be late for work this morning, so what do you actually do?”

Tsukishima taps his chin in thought, contemplating whether or not to tell him the truth, when the waiter comes out to get their orders.

“Hi, my name is Kuroo, and I’ll be your waiter today,” he says with a wink. 

“Kuroo, dude, I told you not to say anything!” Bokuto shouts at the waiter with a pout on his face. The other man just laughs this… boisterous laugh. That’s really the only way Tsukishima can describe it. And that hair… it seems familiar...

“...rooster hair!” He suddenly remembers, throwing the two boys in front of him for a loop.

“Hey, it's not that bad!” Kuroo’s hand instinctively flies up to touch his hair, “and it’s not like I can actually do anything about it. This is alllll bedhead, blondie.”

“At least it puts me at ease that you didn’t make that monstrosity you call hair yourself.” Tsukishima retorts.

“You know, you are really hurting my feelings. I’ve been wounded, Bo, help me!”

“Like he’s gonna help you, he’s on a date with _me_ , remember?”

“Only because _I_ told him to ask you.”

“Yeah, well, I’m not the idiot who decided it would be a great idea to ask some rando out from some shady apartment complex, now am I?”

“Nothing happened, did it?”

“No, but it could’ve. That was a very poor choice.”

“Don’t use that dad voice on me, I’m getting vietnam flashbacks–”

“I’m not mad,” Tsukishima pushes his glasses up anime style and smirks at Kuroo, “I’m just disappointed.”

“K.O!” Bokuto says from under his hand. He looks like he was really enjoying the back and forth, his eyes shooting between the two men.

“Bo, how could you betray me like this?” Kuroo asks, putting his hand over his heart in mock betrayal.

“It’s not betrayal if it's true, bro.” Bokuto laughs, running a hand through his hair, “What are you doing here, anyway? Don’t you have a shoot soon?”

“Yeah, but I wanted to see how my best bro’s date was going so I stopped by before it started.”

“Shoot?” Tsukishima asks, interest peaked.

Kuroo looks over at Tsukishima, completely forgetting he was there even though they had a back and forth practically two seconds ago, before laughing. “Oh yeah, I don’t work here. My Ma co-owns the place though, and she lets me come by and help out every so often.”

“Oh, thats cool,” Tsukishima starts, before remembering, “wait you didn’t explain what you meant by ‘shoot’.”

Bokuto chuckles this time and turns to Kuroo, “Told ya he’s perspective.”

Kuroo rolls his eyes, “You said, and I quote, ‘he’s a really good thinker-finder’. You only know what perspective even means because Akaashi told you that's what you meant.”

Kei snorts, “Thinker-finder?” That’s really all he can manage to say in his fit of giggles.

Bokuto stares in awe, not noticing the other is doing the same. It truly is a sight to see, a rare finding, a true shooting star of laughs, thank the gods–

“Is there something on my face?” Tsuki asks, subconsciously putting a hand to his face in embarrassment.

 _Cute_ both boys think in unison.

“Oh no Tsuki,” Bokuto reassures, “I was just spacing out, you’re good.”

“Yeah same here, you still lookin’ fine,” Kuroo winks at him before looking at the clock on the wall. “Shit–!”

He runs out, quickly throwing the apron over his head and tossing it on the counter, getting a loud “watch it, kid!” from who Kei assumes to be the owner.

“Sorry about him,” Bokuto laughs, “He’s… not the best at being discrete.”

“What's that supposed to mean?”

“Well, he didn’t think you’d actually come today…” Bokuto says, looking down and rubbing the back of his head.

Kei scoffs and rolls his eyes, “good to know he doesn’t have much faith in me.”

“No, that's not it!” Bokuto quickly looks back up at Tsukishima, “I think he just doesn’t want me to get hurt or anything..”

“Ah, I see,” Tsukishima pushes his glasses up before continuing, “I did sort of the same thing for my best friend when he first met his boyfriend. It’s sort of like, getting a read on the person, right?”

“...did you just imply that we’re gonna be boyfriends in the future?”

Kei’s head jerks up to see Bokuto throwing his head back in loud laughter, Tsukishima’s face getting redder by the minute.

“That is not what I was implying and you know it…” Tsukishima mumbles at the table, face as red as a tomato.

“I was just messin’ with ya, Tsuki!”

“Can I get you boys anything?” This time, it’s a real waitress and they give her their orders– Tsuki got a strawberry boba tea and a sandwich, Bokuto a pop and ramen in case you wanted to know– before getting back to the conversation.

They talked about random topics for a while before the subject of college came up.

“Oh yeah, my roommate is still in college.” Bokuto takes a loud, obnoxious sip of his pop before continuing, “It’s his last year though, and he is _so_ excited to just be fuckin’ done with it. But he put all his english classes off until the last minute because he sucks at the language and he’s totally freaked about it.”

“I actually am fluent in english, my father’s side is from America and we go there for every holiday. If your friend isn’t annoying, I could tutor him.”

“Oh man, would you? If I have to hear another word about how hard the tests are gonna be, I’m actually gonna scream.”

“Yeah, totally.” Tsukishima takes a bite of his sandwich before continuing, “But I swear to everything that’s happy if he turns out to be another Hinata we will never go on a second date. Ever.”

“I am not sure what that means but if it means I won't be able to see you again, I won’t do it.” He adds a wink at the end of the sentence, causing Tsukishima’s ears to go red.

Kei’s eyes darted up to the clock on the wall before realizing that it was already one. _Shit, my next class starts in thirty minutes and it takes like, 15 minutes to drive to the school–_

“Tsuki, everything ok?” Bokuto asks when he notices Kei’s eyes go wide.

“Yeah, it’s just I have a class starting soon so we should probably wrap this up.”

“Ah, yeah, that makes sense,” he taps his chin for a moment before snapping his fingers, “Number! That’s what I almost forgot. Tsuki, can I have your number?”

“Oh yeah,” Kei grabs his phone before realizing what was just asked. His face goes a light shade of pink before he continues unlocking the phone.

They exchange numbers and Bokuto walks Tsukishima to his car, which Tsukishima said wasn't necessary but Bokuto insisted on, saying “what kind of date would I be if I didn’t walk my date back to their car!”

They stand there for what feels like forever (it’s really only a few seconds) before Bokuto speaks up.

“...so.”

“So?”

“...do you wanna maybe go on a second date sometime?”

“A second date?”

“I know that wasn’t in the dare or anything, but I just had a lot of fun today and it seemed like you were too but if you weren’t that's totally ok I don’t want to pressure you into anything but like I wanted to shoot my shot because what if you’re my one true love and I didn’t say anything and–”

“Bokuto–”

“–the only time I ever got to see you was when you we’re picking up the boys from school and–”

“Bo–”

“–I grow old by myself knowing that I could’ve changed this outcome if I just–”

“KOUTAROU!”

This shut the man up quickly, and his hair… fell? We’ll touch more on that later.

“...yes?”

“What I _wanted_ to say was, yes I would love to go on a second date.” The blond pulls his phone out to check the time, 1:12. “We can touch on that more over text–” he shakes his phone around– “but I really have to get going.”

Bokuto’s hair slowly starts to rise once again, and I’m pretty sure the whole parking lot could see his wings. “Ok, Tsuki! I’ll text you!”

“Ok, and I might text back,” Tsuki says as he gets into the car. He starts the engine first try (score!) and rolls down his window to tell Bokuto one last thing.

“I’ll see you in a few hours, Bokuto-Sensei.”

And with that, Tsuki leaves a dumbfounded Bokuto in the Nekomata’s parking lot, feeling accomplished. He gets to class and everyone can practically see the badassery radiating off of him.

~:~

Finally, after two long lectures and a date, Tsukishima was exhausted. The lecture was less of a lecture and more of a class, it only lasted 30 minutes because the teacher had a killer hangover, so good for Tsukishima I guess. 

He had an hour to get home, take a quick nap, and then go pick up the boys, so he had to get home quickly. 

Finally, he gets home and stumbles up to his apartment, not paying attention to his surroundings. That would prove to be a bad idea.

Just before he gets to his door, he feels a hand on his arm. Turning around like there's not fuckin tomorrow, he's greeted with the delightful face of his wonderful neighbor, Crazy Jim.

Now, if you weren't aware before, that was sarcasm. Tsukishima can see all the creepy details of his neighbors' faces; his eyes a deep red– actually probably more like a very, very light brown, but that's beside the point– with a large scar going down the side of his face. His tan skin darker than normal in the poor lighting of the apartments, darkening his eyes as he looks up slightly at Tsukishima.

Slightly startled and most certainly more awake, Tsukishima tries– _and fails–_ to wiggle out of his strong hold.

"What do you want, Jim?" He asked in perfect English, still attempting to wiggle out of the man's grasp.

"You know exactly what I want, pretty boy," he replies, turning Tsukishima around to face him properly, "I want more yen."

"You know I'm not giving you anymore, I need to feed my boys somehow."

"I wait until you're alone so your kids don't see you like this and this is how you repay me?"

"I told you, we're through. I paid back my debt to you, what more could you want?"

At this, the American chuckled, shaking his head as he pushed Tsukishima into the wall.

"Just because you gave me all the money you _owed,_ doesn't mean I don't still want– no, _need_ yen."

"Get a job if you need yen that badly, but don't take it out on me. Find someone else to bother with your bullshit."

"Now now, that's no way to talk to a neighbor." Jim smiles wickedly, looking up slightly at Tsukishima, "plus, you're the only Japanese person I know who can speak English. And I ain’t about to learn Japanese just to get some cash. So, cough it up.”

Tsukishima stared down at the man, and while he seems calm and collected, he’s totally freaking out. He knows he won't stop asking until he gets what he wants, and he know he will do anything to get what he wants. 

“You shouldn’t have moved to Japan if you didn’t want to learn Japanese, dumbass.”

“What did you just say, blondie?” 

“Did I stutter?”

“Look at you, finally grew some balls, huh?”

“Jim, I really don’t have time for this.” He looks at the watch on his arm-- the time is 2:19, he probably won't even have enough time to take his nap. _So much for catching up on energy._

“Are you fucking serious, blondie? Not even 1000 yen?”

“Deadly.” Tsukishima stared down at the man, scared of what will happen but not showing it in the slightest.

“You asked for this.” Tsukishima was just about to ask what he meant by that when a hand suddenly collided with his eye, making his head swing to the side.

“Next time, just give me the yen and this won’t happen.”

Jim walked away, pride swelling in his chest, while Tsukishima rushed into his apartment as fast as he could. He was sure that the hit left some sort of mark, and he had to cover it up the best he could before he picked up the kids.

Running to the bathroom, he looked at his reflection to see his eye turning a bluish-green color. 

_Of fucking course he gave me a black eye. It couldn’t have been just a scratch or a small injury, no, it had to be a giant fucking black eye._

He searched the bathroom for any makeup at all, but he couldn’t find even an empty tube of concealer. He could call Yamaguchi and ask for some, but he’s sure he’ll ask why he needs it and Tsukishima doesn’t really want his best friend getting involved. 

So, he decided he was just gonna forget about it and go pick up the kids. If they asked-- which they most certainly will-- he would just say he ran into something and needs to get makeup to cover it up. Yeah, that'll work. Hopefully.

It was 2:30 by the time he finished looking for makeup, so he decided to just get into the car and go get the boys. He could deal with the black eye later, but right now he just needed to get out of that apartment.

The drive to the school was full of classical music; it helped calm Tsukishima down, and it made it so he didn't have to think much about his situation. He just had to listen to the song and focus on the road.

He got to the school about three minutes before it actually let out, so he decided he should just get out and wait. After all, three minutes wasn’t that long.

He signed in and walked over to the boys’ class, getting a few looks from teachers, but that was to be expected. 

Finally, he did the last thing he wanted to do at that moment, and walked into the classroom.

“Papa, what happened??” Kaori ran up to him as soon as he noticed Kei’s eye, pulling at his pant leg. Tsuki simply gave him a pat and signaled Hisoka to come over.

“I’m fine kid, I just fell on the way here,” he quickly said, trying to get out of there without Bokuto noticing he was there and oh… oh he noticed…

“What happened, Tsukishima??” He practically ran over, leaving the two kids he was playing with to play on their own.

“I just fell on the way, it’s really not that big a-”

“Are you sure? That looks like a pu-”

Bokuto was kicked in the shin before he could get any more out, and looked at Tsuki with confusion.

“Listen, I’ll text you about it later, ok?” Kei asks, hoisting Kaori up on his hip and grabbing Hisokas hand, “I don’t really wanna take your time away from the kids.”

Bokuto looked disappointed, but content. He gave Tsuki a small nod and went back to what he was playing with the other kids, and Kei left with the boys.

When they got back to the apartment, Jim was nowhere to be found, _thank the gods_. Kei quickly got the boys inside and took out the color corrector and concealer he picked up on the way back and got to work.

Kaori, as always, played with his toy make-up set Tadashi got him for Christmas last year while Kei did his best with what he had. _I definitely need to call Tadashi for this, I don’t know how I’m gonna hide it for school tomorrow…_

_Well, let’s just see where the day takes us…_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok so I can explain.
> 
> Actually no I can’t, I have no excuse. Honestly I’ve kinda just lost my spark for this story, ya know? I want to make a quality product for you all because I think you at least deserve that, but I don’t think updates will come out as often as I’d like. Which fucking sucks because I really do like this story, and I have so many plans for it, I just don’t know how to put those plans into words.
> 
> I’m sick of hiding from my profile and all of you so I just forced myself to write the rest of this chapter just to get it out there that I’m done hiding. This is my story and I will post when I damn well please.
> 
> And I know you all will be supportive of that decision, because I’ve read literally all your comments and you’re all so sweet and nice, but I just felt like I needed to say that so… I did.
> 
> I love you all, and I’m not abandoning this story, it’s just not gonna come out often. When I feel like writing this, I’ll write, and that’s that. I have learned my lesson though, and from now on I won’t be posting any stories without being 100% done with them.
> 
> I really do appreciate all the nice comments, and yeah, this might not be a big deal to you, but I made a commitment to this story and it kinda feels like I’ve failed it, but no matter! I’ll make it right again.
> 
> Sorry for the really long note, I just want all of you to know that I’m back and will be communicating with my tiny community again, so yay! I hope you all have a good day/night/evening, I really do appreciate you all.

**Author's Note:**

> Come and yell at me on my Insta and Wattpad ⬇️
> 
> Instagram - i_love_chocolate0001  
> Wattpad - I_Love_Choocolate29


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